Wednesday, September 09, 2009

I Hope The Beatles Change The World Back

Here's a trailer for a new Beatles videogame. The animation and design is great! Very clever. I think it's by the guys who make the Gorrilaz videos which are really good too. (I saw a good copy of this that someone downloaded to their computer - anyone know where to get that? Send me a link!)

I hope the game is a big hit and helps bring back the idea of melody and that music can actually be pleasant to the ears.

I am a huge fan of the Beatles and their music actually influenced my storytelling. I used to study the structure of their songs and performances to figure out what made them so exciting and full of surprises.

Even their sad songs are somehow fun - though if you have a broken heart you wanna kill yourself - but you still listen to them anyway.

We need an entertainment revolution. Maybe the kids who buy this videogame will get turned on to entertainment that's pleasurable to the senses.

You really hit the nail on the head, John, and I couldn't agree more. I think what makes me so excited about this release is the resurgence of Beatles into the mainstream culture....a whole new generation of Beatlemaniacs is soon to be BORN!!! Oh, and Happy Birthday!

Before the Beatles came into my life i didn't listen to music at all. the Beatles were the "1st love" of my life,from age 9 to 14 i only wanted to listen to them,they gave me the gift of music and completely changed my consumption about art and creativity

a few years after the Beatles , i discovered Ren & Stimpy and that show actually became the secondbig influence of my life, but more in the visual field.nothing was the same after that

sadly i can't wish John Lennon happy birthday, but lucky i can say it to my other heroso happy birthday Mr K and thank you for everything,

Hi John, Happy Birthday!About the Beates animation, I think that the leader animator and the designer is Robert Valley, he have a strong style and he did things for guitar hero as well, you can see other stuff in his blog http://www.robertvalley.blogspot.com/ and some stuff in his website http://robertvalley.com/.

When my BFF was a tiny toddler her older sisters were much older. They all lived over by Fairfax, and her sisters were really into everything cool up on the Strip, the music, etc etc. And they went to see the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.

So anyway, her older sisters knew some guys who, for fun, dressed up as the Beatles once for a party or something. This would have been in like 1966 I think. So my buddy was as I say, a little kid, and for years she had this weird memory of The Beatles coming over to her house and taking a shower/changing their clothes. She thought it was a dream...but then again, it was so real. I think she was 15 before one of her siblings told her about the friends who did the fab four impersonation. The Beatles really HAD come over to her house! Sort of. I wish that memory was one of mine, I'll tell you. For my part, when I was a first grader (or before) I thought for a while that John, Paul, George & Ringo were...cartoon people, like Bugs. Because of that animated show where Paul Frees or someone did their voices! Anyway I loved them. When I heard they'd broken up I was devastated. Times that will never come again that are anything like that, but there's always all the songs.

They did most of the writing for some of the best music in the world in such a short period of time, it's absolutely amazing. So prolific and short lived.

I think the Queen should play a prank on Ringo and call him in to knight him and tell him he can only be knighted in the nude. Imagine, Ringo kneeling there before the Queen, naked, and the Queen trying not to laugh.

Off point; just read yr post on anime colour palettes & saw you name check FlCl (Fooli Cooli)...did you watch that whole series? It blew me away, i thought it was fantastic & sweet, warm & rich with great anime references...My favourite anime, without a doubt!

Right on John. Theres somthing you should do.Take those great funny designs from the original Beatles cartoons and make some new toons based on their songs. Give it the John K. touch and it could become classic.

I actually think last.fm, pandora, and a few bastions where educated DJs are still considered worthwhile (such as Seattle's KEXP) are doing wonders for the music industry. Ten years ago, all music went through labels; If you didn't get radio time and music videos, you were practically unheard of and had zero exposure. If you weren't signed you simply couldn't make a living off music. The beauty of the internet is that an educated listener can craft his own music experience; more importantly, you can drift organically from what you're exposed to into what you actually like. Yes, MTV and Clear Channel can still push whatever garbage they feel is acceptably marketable. The difference is that now this is merely an option for where you get your music, rather than the single reality you can barely escape.

Quality still might not float to the absolute top. But at least it now has air to breathe. I'm curious to see if a similar breathable outlet happens for new, quality animation. Perhaps now that Youtube is willing to sign ad deals with content creators...? Not likely, but it might at least be a living.

You can actually get the MP4 file straight from that Youtube video if you have the right tools. To save you the bother I got it and uploaded it here. Unfortunately it still has those Gametrailers segments at the beginning and end, but the only versions I could find without them weren't as good quality. If you have trouble playing it say so and I'll convert it to Quicktime or something.

Maybe somebody else has a better version, though! If so I'd like to see it, too.

Some guys at work were swooning over this video a couple of weeks ago. I had at least one colleague who hated the character designs, though. They're not really my kind of thing either but the video as a whole is definitely very slick, as expected of Passion pictures. Some of the traditional animation in there is really nice, too. I like how their clothes morph into the Sgt. Peppers outfits, even though it's just a small bit.

I like what the Beatles did up through Sgt. Pepper's. My favorite is probably Revolver. Those two albums were the period Paul dominated the musical direction. The John dominated and we got the White Album.

I hope the game is a big hit and helps bring back the idea of melody and that music can actually be pleasant to the ears.

Well, I still find Black Sabbath pleasant to my ears. Taste is a very subjetive thing.

Yeah, indeed! I've been listening to them the whole day, and I'm hearing new details and subtleties in nearly every song. The original vinyl still sounds warmer and more organic to me, but these new CDs are quite impressive, a big improvement over the old ones from 1987. Thankfully the sound haven't been mutilated with noise reduction and excessive compression like in the majority of modern remasters.

I always considered the videogame industry to have a bit more freedom in the creative regard. And it's also a Rockband game, I wouldn't worry of it being a hit or not (read: people freaking love these)

Yep, The Beatles were the first band I was ever obsessed with, there's no question about that. But I actually haven't listened to them in a long time. They're just so ubiquitous, I needed a break to find out what other music was compelling to me in the same way. Zappa's a hero of mine, but then I'm a cartoonist, so go figure. (As we all know, that's one of the very few things you and Matt Groening have in common taste-wise.) Actually, if you were to ask me who the greatest band ever is and demanded a totally spontaneous, genuine, non-recycled opinion, I would say Roxy Music. I'd disagree with myself later, but then why shouldn't I?

I saw this trailer over the summer and freaked out over how cool it was! I've been a huge fan of the beatles since I was a kid, and I'm only 21. All the kids in elementary school thought I was weird...

Hmm. a bit sorry to dissapoint you, but the game itself is just another reskin of their prevoius guitar slamming games. The style does not get inside the game itself.

The awesome video was made with such a big care and bugdet because EA figured that it would take a giant and fresh maketing stunt to sell it to the young Americans, who wouldn't have bought it elsewise.

But I guess as long as the great music comes out there, into the little homes and some talented people got to make a nice pr video. It's still win win.

Today's your birthday?! Don't worry, John, when you're 64 you can still get by with a little help from your friends.

Yeah, I agree with you regarding the more tuneful days of The Beatles' music compared to what passes these days. I actually made a special trip out yesterday to purchase three of the reissued Beatles albums on CD, as all I'd had before were greatest hits compilations. Wonderful stuff! Mind you, they can't really compete with Elwy and The Tree Weasels...

2. Could you analyze these Beatle character designs in terms of what you've been talking about, i.e. pleasing contrasts in proportion (aside from the long legs) and so on? They look good in motion but seem to be very different from your usual taste.

Oh yeah me and a couple of buds were playing that game last night. When I saw the inrto, I said "That looks like something Jamie Hewlett would do" I read your post the next day and you pretty much confirmed that theory. I was totally getting my false sense of accomplishment on though. I felt like Ringo Starr/Thomas Moore/Pete Best.

I've been following news on this game ever since it was first announced. It's been great seeing this project come together as it has, without as much as a hitch (at least as far as we outsiders can tell). It looks like all parties involved went above and beyond, and the feel of The Beatles really comes through in every aspect of the game, especially so in the presentation.

Hopefully the game, and the album re-releases, will help boost Beatles fandom and bring back the idea that music should be fun.

"We need an entertainment revolution. Maybe the kids who buy this videogame will get turned on to entertainment that's pleasurable to the senses."

At first I read that as videogames not being pleasurable to the sense, but I guess you meant in general.

In truth videogames are largely not that pleasing to the senses, or at least to the eyes. There's an unfortunate trend these days to go for more and more realistic videogame visuals and an overuse of the colour brown. And not a warm, pretty and welcoming brown, but a very drab and boring brown.

Videogames these days, I feel, are in a similar slump as cartoons. Back when games were young they held a certain kind of magic that's rare these days. The emphasis is in all the wrong places and some very basic rules of game design have been left by the wayside.

Anyway, sorry for ramblin'.Just a lot of stuff I wanted to say.Oh, and one more thing:

Thank you so much for this blog. Even though I don't intend to be a cartoonist I love reading it and have found it to be surprisingly helpful for my study of game design. There's a surprising amount of overlap when it comes to what makes good cartoons and what makes good videogames, and thus your blog has been very helpful.

You're probably snoring by now, but thanks again for keeping this blog.

Seriously John, when melody disappeared from "music" I stopped buying new music and started getting back into older music.

Of course it takes talent to create a good theme and melody with a pleasant lyric so I guess thats not going to happen anymore. Because of the direction music and animation and all other forms of art have taken in our "corporate" paradigm, really great things stand out from the crowd, and we all know thats not good?!? Right?!?

Then CEOs would have to actually work for their money, looking for ACTUAL talent,(which they probably couldnt find if it hit them over the head) and then they would have to do something just dreadful, like dealing with these talented prima donnas with all of their "IDEAS" and attitudes.

why in the heck would anybody listen to music or look at art that isn't pleasurable to the senses. Sure there's the crappy pop stuff that's only held up by the machine and the funds behind it, but of course there's loads and loads of music that is quite popular and quite pleasurable to the senses. You have to know this, cuz you just mentioned the Gorillaz. Good gracious! Don't be so old all the time.

It looks good, but I sincerely hope it turns on lots of young 'uns to actually get out there and make some real music. Paul McCartney inspired me (along with a few others) to learn how to play the bass...

He made the instrument cool. He killed the perception that the bass guitar was played by some unknown geezer at the back.

The big music industry is going to die in probably 5 years or less. Indie is going to be the way forward, just like John's approach to online flash animation.

Alternatively, to save it: the person who can figure out how to make money from filesharing is going to be a multi-billionare.